Drain cleaning. BIG BUSINESS. Tony specializes in snaking out sinks, tubs, mostly homes. He brings in a hand held electric snake. Google images to see, around 250-300 bux. He has a couple of screw drivers in his back pocket, and one heavy duty glove for his left hand.

Did my sink, tub. Walked out 15 mins. later, 150 bux cash in hand. I'm very happy, most of those guys were unavailable, wanted me to call back in a coupld of days, REALLY? Tomorrow? For my drains.

Tony looks to be around 50, smallish side, 5'7" slender.

I bet I could buy a 300 dollar snake and have it paid for in one day. Probably with 3 jobs.

Now, is Tony a plumber? Don't know, don't care. Didn't ask to see his license, didn't ask for receipt, was HAPPY to pay him the cash because he came and did the job, sinks are draining fine.

He is a drain cleaner. If his snake doesn't do the job, and he says he knows in a minute or two, he tells them they need a plumber, has a referral card to one with a discount on it, charges nothing and goes to next job.

He does ONE thing, and if you need your drain cleaned, he'll show up ASAP, and you pay him.

Sometimes I'm amazed at how simple things can be. I hope he has insurance, or a business license, he did look at the pipes before he started, I imagine a pipe sometimes breaks with a snake in it.

Anyhow, I was a happy consumer, and I think Tony is probably flying under the radar and providing a much in demand service. And his plumber buddy is happy to take the referrals for the jobs Tony knows are out of his league.